The Bend Surpasses the Riders’ Expectations as Maxwell Goes Quickest

The Official ASBK Test at The Bend Motorsport Park is now in the books and it was Wayne Maxwell (Yamaha Racing Team, YZF-R1M) to set the benchmark. Conditions were excellent at the brand-new track and the riders were full of praise for the world class facility and layout. Attention now turns to Round 3 of the Yamaha Motor Finance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul Pirelli (April 19-22) joined by the FIM Asian Road Racing Championship.

YMI Superbike
The last session for the day was full of excitement, as Maxwell flew to the top of the timesheets. Maxwell set his fastest lap in the dying seconds of the Official ASBK Test.

Behind Maxwell were the two Queensland-based Troys, Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing, Honda CBR1000SP) and three-time WorldSBK Champion Troy Bayliss (Desmosport Ducati, Ducati 1299 Panigale FE).
Herfoss set the fastest time yesterday but was just pipped to the line by 0.010 by his rival Maxwell.

The Ducati looks at home at The Bend Motorsport Park and Round 3 could perhaps see a Bayliss victory, should the cards fall in his favor. Bayliss was a further 0.26 behind the fastest time of the day.

Also finishing in the top five was the reigning champion, Josh Waters (Team Suzuki ECSTAR, GSXR-R1000R) and multiple Champion Glenn Allerton (NextGen Motorsports, BMW S1000RR) who is looking strong again and appears to be recovering well after a significant fall at Round 1.

It’s all setup for a brilliant YMI Superbike battle when ASBK returns to the Bend!

Kawasaki Supersport
Fastest was Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team, YZF-R6) who was without a doubt the strongest rider in his class. As the test progressed, Halliday become very comfortable with the layout of the track.

In second was the championship leader Tom Toparis (Cube Racing, Kawasaki, ZX-6R). The gap to Halliday was significant, as much as 1.785s. Toparis will be looking to take the fight to his title rival at Round 3.

Giuseppe Scarcella (Kawasaki BCperformance, ZX-6R) managed to place himself in third. He will be seeking to elevate himself onto the podium for race weekend. He was a further 2.213s off the leading pace.